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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24962410">Meow Meow Nyan Nyan Punch</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/guava/pseuds/guava'>guava</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>SF9 (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - College/University, Animal Play, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Getting Together, Hand Jobs, Loss of Virginity, M/M, Pet Play in the final chapter, Slice of Life, a College AU with actual studying</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 10:34:05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>12,997</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24962410</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/guava/pseuds/guava</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>How Youngbin sees Inseong, at first: a moocher with a strange personality.</p><p>How Youngbin sees Inseong, after learning about the healing effect of Inseong's cute side on others: a man with the spirit of a cat.</p><p>How Youngbin sees Inseong, once he sees much less of Inseong than before: someone he has to have in his life.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kim Inseong/Kim Youngbin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>23</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/chilltaire/gifts">chilltaire</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When the weekend was over, Youngbin stepped out of Kingdom to return to the world he was used to. He took one last look at the gay club's sign, no longer flashing neon red in the morning light, and thought about his past three nights of  mixing drinks as the club's temporary bartender.</p><p>His pay was generous by his standards for part-time jobs, especially as it was his first bartending gig and he was just filling in for the regular bartender. He liked the work itself too despite not being much of a clubgoer. Serving and mixing drinks was interesting, and observing the clientele in between orders was eye-opening. Absorbed in the challenging newness of his tasks behind the bar, he appreciated the lively atmosphere more than he would as a customer.  </p><p>Punching in the keycode to his apartment, he settled back into the rhythm of his quiet life. His four housemates were nowhere to be seen, probably either still sleeping or having left for their morning classes. The only person around didn't live there, but was eating kimchi in the kitchen as if he did.</p><p>By then, Youngbin was used to seeing Inseong wandering around his home even in very early or very late hours. Inseong's habit of dropping by their place started in the middle of last year, back when Youngbin first knew Inseong as Jaeyoon's friend. As the oldest housemate with his name on the lease, he had paid attention to Inseong's growing frequency in crashing on their couch to prepare to take advantage of the walkable distance between the apartment and their university.</p><p>Youngbin wasn't the type to tiptoe around getting his point across. He had planned to bring up why it wasn't right for Inseong to treat the housemates' shared space like a dorm. But somehow, he didn't have to drop any hints for Inseong to do more than pretend that he wasn't freeloading. First, Inseong volunteered his Netflix subscription, then he used his experience in scoring high marks for the TOEIC exam to lead a study group for the housemates interested in improving their English.</p><p>And if it were not for Inseong telling Youngbin about the job opening at his uncle's gay club, Youngbin wouldn't even have known about Kingdom. Inseong had no doubt done enough for Youngbin to relax his 'no mooching' policy.</p><p>On the kitchen table, Inseong had before him an empty plate dotted with crumbs and a half-drunk mug of coffee. He had finished most of his breakfast, yet he continued to pick at his small plate of kimchi with a fork.</p><p>Looking up from his food, he said, "Good morning and welcome back. Come try the kimchi that Taeyang and Jaeyoon made."</p><p>"Morning," Youngbin greeted him back.</p><p>He took the fork that Inseong offered to bring a slice of kimchi into his mouth. Its saltiness was incredible and without thinking, he reached for Inseong's mug to dilute the taste with cold coffee.</p><p>Inseong didn't mind sharing his drink with Youngbin and with an amused smirk, he asked, "Did that wake you up?"</p><p>"Pretty much," Youngbin replied, shuddering and setting down the mug of cold coffee. "If I feel sleepy during my 10am seminar, I'll just try to relive this taste."</p><p>Inseong nodded. "So how was the club? How was my uncle?"</p><p>"I like both your uncle and the club a lot. In fact, I may start working there after finals."</p><p>"For real!?" At the unexpected news, Inseong jolted upright in his hair.</p><p>"Yup. I think your uncle likes me too." Unused to working a full night shift, Youngbin felt his eyes drooping and prodded the fork in his hand at the salty kimchi. "But he'd only hire me if I take the TOEIC and get at least 300. The club has lots of English-speaking VIP clients, after all."</p><p>"Does that mean--"</p><p>"I'll be joining your English study group," Youngbin said. Bowing his head at Inseong, he continued, " Please accept me as a new student, Inseong-seonsaengnim."</p><p>With mock sternness, Inseong folded his arms and pretended to glower at Youngbin. "I have a one kimchi entrance fee."</p><p>But as Youngbin was about to eat another slice, Inseong stopped him, grabbing and turning his wrist to bite off the kimchi hanging from the fork. Inseong instantly contorted his face into a grimace as he tried to swallow, amusing Youngbin with the suffering he brought onto himself.</p><p>To hide his chuckling, Youngbin looked down and away from Inseong. He wondered how much work he could actually get done while studying with the most playful teacher that he ever had.</p>
<hr/><p>The seed of the English study group was planted when Jaeyoon decided to go to Los Angeles for his student exchange in the next semester. After a few sessions of Inseong testing him on new vocabulary in the living room, Taeyang, Chanhee and Youngkyun jumped on board to also get some free tutoring. The three of them couldn't back out as they had registered for a basic English class to clear their foreign language requirement for school. </p><p>Youngbin had been the only housemate who was content with his limited English. Whenever a study session began, he would retreat into his room to let the others discuss freely in the communal space. He could sometimes hear through his closed door bits of what they were working on that told him they were making good progress on that day. Yet on more days than he could count, he would listen in on the struggle through long words and sentences degenerating into groans, followed by someone swearing in both English and their native language for good measure. Then, the group would resign themselves to doing what Inseong called 'passive learning' as they would put on a  playlist of English pop songs or an English movie.</p><p>The concepts and exercises crammed into the chapters of the TOEIC guidebook were hard enough, and preventing a slide into passive learning was a degree harder. Youngbin's first session as the newest member of the study group only confirmed his suspicion that it was a miracle that the others could get any work done. Sitting on one end of the couch with the guidebook open in his lap, he observed his housemates drifting further and further away from hitting their study targets: Chanhee was more or less asleep face-first on the table, Taeyang was doodling a flower on a blank page of his notebook, Youngkyun had picked up his phone ten minutes ago to look up a word and had not put it down, and Jaeyoon had become fascinated with his leg hair.</p><p>Beside him, Inseong put down his file of notes and went, "This is difficult, nya."</p><p>Youngbin watched him take his glasses off to hook them on the front of his shirt before balling up his fists and rubbing them against his closed eyes.</p><p>"Are you turning into a cat now?" Youngbin asked.</p><p>Continuing to rub at his eyes, Inseong said, "No, I'm taking a break from practising English by practising cat language, nyan. You don't have to pretend to be an Englishman to speak English, but it helps to enter the mind of a kitty to speak cat language."</p><p>"Since when?"</p><p>Inseong put his hands down and turned to face Youngbin, his lips curling into a smirk. "Meow, meow, nya, nya."</p><p>That earned a half-laugh, half-snort from Youngbin. Both Inseong's meowing and his housemates' varying states of idleness seemed like signs that his turn to be driven crazy by his notes and practice questions would come sooner or later.</p><p>Inseong poked at his thigh, getting his attention to ask, "Youngbin-nyan, do you have any treats left, nya?"</p><p>At the start of the session, they had passed around a package of tteokbokki crackers which Youngbin had wedged between his side and the armrest. He picked it up, shaking it once to rattle the remaining crackers inside.</p><p>"That's a nice sound," Inseong commented. "Would you mind using that to test me? Here, take this."</p><p>Youngbin took the large spiral notebook that Inseong handed him. On its unlined pages, Inseong had written one question on a page with its answer and a short explanation on the opposing page.</p><p>"You can read that while I'm thinking," Inseong said, pointing at the explanation. </p><p>"Sure, that's a good idea."</p><p>Folding the notebook, Youngbin kept the answer out of Inseong's sight as he held up the question for Inseong. In his head, Youngbin read the English words '<em>account for</em>' on the page facing him, then its explanation in Korean: 'to contribute to the total of something, often used in front of 'about'.'</p><p>"The answer is 'account for'," Inseong said.</p><p>"Yup, that's right!"</p><p>When Youngbin flipped the notebook over, the question itself gave him a shock:</p><p>
  <em>Property taxes ________ about 40 percent of the overall tax revenue the state collects.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>-make</em>
</p><p>
  <em>-are at least</em>
</p><p>
  <em>-account for</em>
</p><p>
  <em>-are raised by</em>
</p><p>"Wow, I don't think I understand even half the words in this question," Youngbin admitted.</p><p>"Sadly, its normal for test takers to not even understand the question," Inseong replied. "But don't worry about it. If you're aiming for a score below 500, you can afford to let go of the points for questions like this one."</p><p>"Now," he uncurled his fingers to hold his palm up, "since I got the answer right, a treat, if you please."</p><p>"Here you go."</p><p>After Youngbin placed a lone, bright red tteokbokki cracker on Inseong's palm, Inseong gobbled it up and turned the page of the notebook to move on to the next question. He got it correct, and the next one too, and for the one after that, he gave the right answer after thinking deeply for a moment.</p><p>Youngbin kept the snacks coming. So that Inseong could flip the pages faster, Youngbin started feeding Inseong's rewards right into Inseong's mouth. If Inseong meowed again, it'd really be as if Youngbin was training a cat to perform tricks.</p><p>Their activity got the others to return to studying again. While Taeyang, Youngkyun and Chanhee moved behind Youngbin to join him in reading Inseong's notes, Jaeyoon crammed into the remaining space on the couch to try the questions with Inseong. Jaeyoon was mostly stuck with working out what the question was asking, but once, he managed to give the right answer before Inseong.</p><p>Naturally, the treat went to Jaeyoon. Inseong pouted at being beaten and as Youngbin brought the cracker to Jaeyoon's mouth, Inseong darted forward, snatching it with his teeth.</p><p>"Hyung, that's cheating!" Jaeyoon complained.</p><p>"Sorry, nya."</p><p>To appease Jaeyoon, Inseong bent his head down to rub it against the side of Jaeyoon's arm. Jaeyoon gave him the side-eye, but relented anyway and patted the back of Inseong's head like Inseong was a small animal.</p><p>'Small' was far from how anyone would describe Inseong's appearance. Inseong was tall, quite a bit taller than Youngbin, with broad shoulders that made Youngbin mistake him for a swimmer at first. Inseong was in reality allergic to all types of sports, preferring to sleep all day over exercising possibly because he had a little cat living inside his big body that Youngbin just knew about.</p><p>After Inseong got the answer for the last question in his notebook right, Youngbin looked into the snack package and reported, "There's none left."</p><p>"Nya..." Inseong sighed. "I'm hungry nya..."</p><p>As he cast his eyes down in disappointment, Youngbin imagined drooping kitty ears sticking out of Inseong's head.  He couldn't resist putting his hand between Inseong's imaginary kitty ears, comforting Inseong with strokes over Inseong's hair.</p><p>Inseong perked up at once and made a noise that sounded like a purr. When his brain had enough rest, his intellect would return in full force to work towards his target of 945 points to enter the highest level for English test-takers.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lots of guys didn't care for cute stuff, but Youngbin was different. He had a weakness for cuteness. Being the baby of his family with two older siblings that he was close to, he wasn't pressured to outgrow his tendency to cuddle, squish or pet anything adorable that he could get his hands on. </p><p>Even after moving to live in Seoul as a young adult, Youngbin continued his habit of collecting cute soft toys. Once or twice a year, he would donate some of them to a children's home, doing good for the community and making room to expand his collection. Bringing a new toy home healed him from the stresses of school, menial part-time jobs and other less fun parts of living in a big city. </p><p>Relieving his stress allowed him to tackle adult responsibilities head-on, including his responsibility to look out for his younger housemates. He took charge of distributing household chores and made sure that everyone reached an agreement on the rules to keep their home clean, safe and cozy. In the busiest parts of the semester, he'd check in with the others to make sure that they were eating well while under pressure to meet one deadline after another.</p><p>He even followed his older brother's example to sit them down for 'the talk'. Not the health talk given to children on the cusp of puberty, but rather its sequel on what a healthy, young adult man's social life would involve.</p><p>Dating, specifically, was an important topic to talk about. Someone might want to bring their romantic partner home. Accepting that the others might see him as a spoilsport, Youngbin raised the point that no matter how serious the relationship was or how likable the choice of partner was, some limits had to be placed to prevent anyone from sneakily moving in without paying rent.</p><p>For example, it was okay for visitors to stay overnight. Keeping their own toothbrush in the bathroom was also okay. But aside from that one toothbrush, storing other personal items like clothes was not okay.</p><p>So far, only Inseong had left his toothbrush in the bathroom. He and Jaeyoon were close, but Youngbin wasn't sure if the two friends were going out. Whether they were or weren't was less important to Youngbin than looking out for signs that Inseong was becoming an unofficial housemate.</p><p>As much as Youngbin knew, Inseong respected the apartment's rules, which wasn't easy with how often Inseong stayed overnight. The next day, Youngbin would see him having changed into Jaeyoon's clothes or run into him using Jaeyoon's electric shaver in the bathroom.</p><p>Inseong was so drawn to their place that Youngbin suspected he had other reasons for often staying over aside from being able to get to his morning classes on time. The nature of those reasons was a mystery to Youngbin as according to Jaeyoon, Inseong didn't come from a broken home and didn't lack friends to hang out with.</p><p>When Inseong had long breaks in between classes, he'd meet one or both his parents for lunch. In school, he had a large social circle and was even popular in his department.</p><p>Whatever his reasons were, Youngbin would likely find out the more he got to know Inseong. Like Taeyang, Chanhee and Youngkyun, he had grown to see Inseong as not just Jaeyoon's friend, but his friend. Inseong was smart, caring, funny and wasn't shy about showing his cute side. Youngbin wouldn't deny that he was warming up to him, to the point that he had started to lend Inseong his shampoo and extra towel.</p>
<hr/><p>Another thing that Youngbin liked about Inseong was his ease in switching from being a tutor to acting as a comfort item for the others. On their more peaceful study sessions, they would take turns to use Inseong's thigh as a pillow on the living room floor while Inseong stroked their hair and gave them a scalp massage.</p><p>He volunteered both his thighs so Youngkyun and Taeyang could lie down at the same time. When Chanhee was about to nod off and fall sideways to the floor, Inseong went over to catch him in a tight hug and said, "Chanhee-ah, let hyung be your study cube."</p><p>Though Jaeyoon was only a year younger than Inseong, Inseong gave him the same amount of care. Youngbin looked up from his practice test to watch Jaeyoon take up the whole of Inseong's lap for Inseong to knead his fingers into Jaeyoon's hair. </p><p>Chanhee, Taeyang and Youngkyun had gone to bed, and without the younger ones around, Jaeyoon spoke freely to tell Inseong, "That's good, really good. I wish you can do it forever."</p><p>Turning to his side, Jaeyoon noticed that Youngbin wasn't totally focused on studying and said, "Hyung, this is super comfortable. Inseong-hyung has magic fingers."</p><p>"Ah, is that so?"</p><p>"Yeah," Inseong said. "Want me to give you some service? Think of it like I'm using the tips of my fingers to transfer my English knowledge into your brain."</p><p>"My brain might explode or crash like a hard drive out of memory," Youngbin joked back. "It's okay, I'm good."</p><p>On Inseong's lap, Jaeyoon wriggled and groaned, "Oh, yes, hyung, that's the spot. Do that harder."</p><p>"Sure, sure," Inseong said, spreading his fingers out over Jaeyoon's scalp and closing them back faster to apply more pressure.</p><p>Youngbin felt his cheeks heat up as he looked down at his practice test. He wouldn't be shocked if there was actually something going on between the two of them. They could even be sleeping together, which was not an issue for Youngbin as long as they kept their private business to Jaeyoon's room and out of the communal area. Youngbin didn't dare to look at them anymore in case their touches began to get more intimate, but had better stick around to stop them from doing anything shameless in the living room.</p><p>Had he missed other signs that Jaeyoon and Inseong were going out? Youngbin had gone out on dates but didn't know enough about dating and relationships to tell when two people would act on their attraction to each other. Perhaps he'd get better at that after bartending at Inseong's uncle's gay club where he had observed people's attempts at attracting strangers that they found attractive.</p><p>Jaeyoon would fit right in with those clubgoers with his bulky muscles. For all Youngbin knew, Inseong could be into muscles. It'd be amusing if Inseong was repelled by the gym, yet drawn to the people who practically lived in it.</p><p>The train of thoughts unrelated to studying English chugged on in Youngbin's head until it was derailed with a series of pokes into the side of Youngbin's thigh. Without Youngbin noticing, Inseong had joined him on the couch.</p><p>"Hey, are you daydreaming?" Inseong asked and poked Youngbin again.</p><p>Youngbin shook his head and blinked a few times to focus again on the strings of English sentences on his practice test. "Nope. But I might as well be since I don't get what this passage is about. Something about ways to handle stress, maybe?"</p><p>Scanning the page in Youngbin's hand, Inseong replied, "Yeah, that's right. It's long and it's hard, but it's better to finish this now so you don't have to read it all over again."</p><p>"You're right," Youngbin sighed.</p><p>As Youngbin brought the practice test closer to his face, Inseong rested his head down to occupy the empty space on Youngbin's lap.</p><p>Youngbin jolted at the added weight on his thighs and as Inseong shifted to make himself comfortable, he said, "I'm not getting up until you finish all the questions."</p><p>"Come on," Inseong stretched his arm out to grab his phone from the coffee table, "I'll help you check all the words you don't know."</p><p>"You've never been this strict about studying before," Youngbin pointed out.</p><p>Since Jaeyoon had gone into his room, there was no one to agree with Youngbin. Inseong just shrugged against Youngbin's thighs and pulled up the now-familiar green and white page of the Naver English-Korean Dictionary. He waited for Youngbin to give his first word to type into the search box and as Youngbin spelled it out, he gained the momentum to read on.</p><p>While looking back and forth from the multiple-choice options to the paragraphs of his passage, he became distracted. He hadn't paid much attention to the black shirt that Inseong was wearing until Inseong lied on his side and revealed the illustration printed on the back--a puppy standing on its hind legs to kick a jegi into the air that was the mascot for the children's day event which Youngbin had worked at.</p><p>"I just washed that shirt," Youngbin said and tugged at one sleeve. Glancing at Inseong's legs, he added, "And aren't those my pyjama pants?"</p><p>"They are." Inseong looked up from his phone and said, "Don't worry, I'll wash them for you. I'll even buy more detergent for you guys. You see, I can't borrow any of Jaeyoonie's clothes anymore."</p><p>"And why is that?"</p><p>"He threw out everything that's not tight-fitting to celebrate reducing his body fat percentage by 5% and to keep himself from backsliding. If you see me wearing what's left in his closet, you'll want to claw your eyes out."</p><p>To resist asking if Inseong kept track of Jaeyoon's body fat, Youngbin let the matter drop. The living room lapsed into silence for a while as Youngbin checked the answers for his practice questions. He had only one out of three right, but at least he could move on to practising with something else.</p><p>"Youngbin-ah," Inseong said. "If you're done, can I ask you a question?"</p><p>"Yeah?"</p><p>"Would you let me wander in and out of here if I were a cat? Maybe a stray that one of the guys picked up to feed and play with?"</p><p>"We're not allowed to keep pets in this building," Youngbin recited one of his landlord's rules. "Except for fishes, turtles, or any other pet that won't make much noise or wander over to other units."</p><p>Inseong laid his back flat on Youngbin's thighs to look up at Youngbin and ask, "What if that's allowed? Would you let me in and leave my hair all over your clothes?"</p><p>"You're already doing that," Youngbin said, picking at an imaginary strand on Inseong's shoulder.</p><p>He was just teasing, but Inseong didn't think so. Inseong frowned, as if concerned that he was indeed a bother to Youngbin.</p><p>As Inseong raised himself up, Youngbin squeezed around Inseong's arm once. "Wait..."</p><p>"What is it?" Inseong asked, meeting Youngbin's eyes.</p><p>"What you said..." Youngbin tried hard to not look away as Inseong tried to read his expression. He dragged out his words, unsure how Inseong would take what he wanted to say but said it anyway. "What you said made me think that you're really like our apartment cat."</p><p>"Oh yeah?" Inseong laughed. "Does that mean you think I'm cute like one?"</p><p>He settled back down on Youngbin's lap, taking what Youngbin said as permission to act cat-like again. With just the two of them alone, it was easy for Youngbin to play along. He ran his fingers through Inseong's hair like he was spoiling a cat; a cat that he had grown attached to despite himself.</p><p>When Inseong fidgeted against him, Youngbin paused and let Inseong say, "So you do think I'm cute!"</p><p>Youngbin did. He continued stroking Inseong's hair and pretended to be unimpressed at Inseong's self-confidence as he said, "Yes, yes, you're so cute." </p><p>After more petting, he remembered Inseong's usual habit from previous study sessions and asked, "Hey, you didn't 'nya' today. Did you decide to take it easy?"</p><p>"That's not true...nya."</p><p>Inseong didn't let himself fall asleep with Youngbin's fingers in his hair. Before that happened, he got up to brush his teeth and remove his contact lenses that he couldn't leave on overnight. Youngbin fetched an extra wool blanket from his room and before returning to the couch, he grabbed something that Inseong might like.</p><p>"It reminds me of you. It's not a cat, though," Youngbin said, thrusting the white bunny plush toy into Inseong's arms.</p><p>Turning the bunny over, Inseong studied its face with the black upside-down triangle sown on it that resembled an infectious smile.</p><p>Inseong smiled back at it and replied, "Thanks. I prefer to be the only cat around here."</p><p>It was rare for a guy, especially a tall and big guy like Inseong, to so completely embrace being cute in front of another guy. The others might have already known about this side of Inseong, leaving Youngbin to be the last to see it and understand why they found being close to Inseong comforting.</p><p>Youngbin took his time to turn off the lights to watch Inseong spread the blanket over himself and tuck the bunny plush toy in beside him with great care. He wanted to see more of Inseong's cute side, liking it even more than Inseong's smarts.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>On Inseong's suggestion, Youngbin bought the English edition of the International Bartenders' Handbook. He wouldn't have found it if Inseong had not sent him a screenshot of its cover. He had never ventured into the English section at the bookstore before and his status as a total beginner seemed obvious to others. When paying for his book, the cashier politely asked him to confirm that he was buying an English book.</p>
<p>Youngbin brushed it off. It was no worse than the patrons at the gay club asking if he had ever 'been with a man'. He wouldn't last as a bartender there, and his work in learning English and the recipes in his new handbook would go down the drain, if he couldn't get over his self-consciousness over how others saw him.</p>
<p>Translating the recipes in the handbook was hard yet a lot more pleasurable than cracking open the study guide and grinding through practice tests. It was just like what Inseong had told him, that studying was less of a pain if he aimed to study what's most relevant to his personal goal. Soon, Youngbin had filled up half a notebook with instructions for mixing the most essential drinks.</p>
<p>He wanted to try mixing a cocktail for Inseong, but for once, he had stopped running into Inseong at home. As everyone entered the part of the semester close to the dates of mid-terms and group presentations, their English study group sessions were postponed. Inseong, like the others, must be swamped with schoolwork and too busy to come by.</p>
<p>Without him there to use their couch as his bed, their home had become much emptier, quieter than usual.</p><hr/>
<p>When would Inseong return to lounging about their living room and kitchen? Had he also been gone for weeks in the middle of the last semester? Youngbin couldn't remember.</p>
<p>Returning from his shift at the chicken restaurant, he found someone rummaging through the fridge. It was Jaeyoon, about to leave for class after grabbing some leftovers to eat. Youngbin shouldn't be surprised to see him instead of Inseong since Jaeyoon, not Inseong, was his actual housemate.</p>
<p>Youngbin opened the box of fried chicken he brought home from work and offered a drumstick to Jaeyoon.</p>
<p>As Jaeyoon bit into the crispy skin, Youngbin asked, "Do you know what Inseong has been doing lately?"</p>
<p>"Meetings for group projects, mostly," Jaeyoon replied in between bites. "Lots of meetings and consultations. It's the trade-off for signing up for courses with no final exams. And he has rehearsals with the drama club too."</p>
<p>"He's in the drama club?"</p>
<p>"Yeah. Hyung, why are you asking me? Why don't you talk to him about what he's up to? You have his number."</p>
<p>"Yeah, I do. It's just..." Youngbin hesitated, unsure of what to say as he couldn't even explain to himself why he had become curious about Inseong's personal life. "It's just, we're not that close."</p>
<p>"I don't think he'd mind that you want to know more about him."</p>
<p>"Okay," Youngbin said. "I'll talk to him."</p>
<p>Just as Youngbin thought they were done with discussing Inseong, Jaeyoon added, "Don't worry, Inseong-hyung will be back. He won't get a taste for sleeping and eating at someone else's place. And besides, he's left his scent all over the furniture and your clothes."</p>
<p>"His wha--"</p>
<p>Jaeyoon took off before Youngbin finished his sentence. Youngbin went to his wardrobe and sniffed a shirt on one of his hangers, trying to find out if it smelled any different from his regular brand of detergent. It didn't, but then again, he didn't really know what Inseong smelled like.</p>
<p>Why would he need to know that? He closed the doors of his wardrobe, shutting out all thoughts on Jaeyoon's indirect comparison of Inseong to a cat marking territory with its scent.</p><hr/>
<p>To get home from class, Youngbin and the others had to cut through the grounds of the School of Media and Communications. Inseong had most of his classes there and was never late for his morning seminars after staying over at their place. It was a pity that none of them were also communication majors who could practically roll out of bed and land right into class.</p>
<p>Youngbin had never run into Inseong on his way home. He wasn't hoping to do so when from afar, he saw Inseong walking on the opposite pavement with a group of other students. At first, he wasn't sure if it was Inseong or just someone who looked like Inseong with his glasses on. But as they came closer towards each other, Inseong--it was Inseong--looked away from his friend to smile at Youngbin.</p>
<p>A cyclist coming from behind rang her bell, and Youngbin stepped aside in time. When he looked across the street, he could only see the back of Inseong and his friends. He might have lost his chance to greet Inseong back in person, but gained an excuse to text him.</p>
<p>
  <em>'Nice seeing you today!'</em>
</p>
<p>After eating dinner and taking a shower, Youngbin settled into bed to read the two replies that Inseong had sent.</p>
<p>
  <em>'Me too! =^_^='</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>'How are you? I hope you haven't given up on TOEIC!'</em>
</p>
<p>Youngbin proved that he hadn't with a picture from his notebook for translated drink recipes. Beside the page for instructions on making a classic martini, he had two separate lists of the ingredients needed--one in English and one in Korean.</p>
<p>
  <em>'=O_O=!!!'</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>'You've been working so hard!! I'm definitely telling my uncle that you're a one in a million worker!'</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>'You don't have to ^^;'</em>
</p>
<p>Youngbin meant that. He was flattered enough to have turned Inseong's little cat face wide-eyed. He added:</p>
<p>
  <em>'You seem really busy lately, so please don't take the trouble. I'm serious.'</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>' 'Take the trouble'?? Have we become strangers!?'</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>'Why can't friends say 'take the trouble' to each other? lol'</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>'Cause it doesn't sound friend-ly, lol =-_-='</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>'Wanna meet for coffee? The drinks from the café near my school's library are cheap and good!'</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>'Come, or else something bad will happen...'</em>
</p><hr/>
<p>"What bad thing will happen?"</p>
<p>"Hmm?" Inseong let the white straw for drinking his Americano slip out from between his lips. "What are you talking about?"</p>
<p>"In your last message," Youngbin reminded him as he swirled the ice in his cup of matcha latte. "You said something bad will happen if I don't come here."</p>
<p>"Ah, that. The bad thing is...you'll forget my face. That's bad, isn't it?"</p>
<p>Youngbin laughed, missing the mix of shamelessness and earnestness that was uniquely Inseong.</p>
<p>Until Inseong had brought him there for coffee, Youngbin had no idea about the cozy café behind one of the buildings for lecture halls that Youngbin was only familiar with from the outside. He didn't have any other communication major friends who'd tell him about the popular haunts at their school. There were no empty tables as the place was packed with smartly dressed students, and so Inseong led Youngbin to talk outside.</p>
<p>On one of the wooden benches lining the edge of the grass, a black cat had curled itself up into the shape of a crescent moon for its nap.</p>
<p>Inseong pointed it out to Youngbin and said, "She's one of my good friends. Hello, Nyangie!"</p>
<p>The cat didn't dash off as they approached her. When they sat down on the bench, she stirred to right herself and hide her belly. As Inseong stroked over the top of her head and her back, she leaned into Inseong's touch and shut her eyes into little slits to show her contentment.</p>
<p>"Nya nya meow meow," Inseong said.</p>
<p>To Youngbin's surprise, Nyangie meowed back once. "Inseong-ah, what did she just say?"</p>
<p>"She said that you're very handsome. And that you should try petting her."</p>
<p>Youngbin bet that rather than understanding Inseong, the cat was just humouring a human she liked. When he reached out to pet her, she didn't shy away and eagerly received his pets. But Youngbin couldn't get a 'nya' out of her when he went 'nya nya meow meow' like Inseong, and even when he bent down closer to her face to 'nya' again, all he could hear from her was the typical cat sound of her snuffling.</p>
<p>"Does she only 'nya' for people she likes?"</p>
<p>Inseong shook his head. "She just can't understand you cause you're not fluent in cat language. You've got to speak to lots of kitties to learn it since there's no test for it."</p>
<p>"Speaking of tests," Inseong continued, "are the guys still studying English on their own?"</p>
<p>"I'm not sure. We don't see each other around at home as much since everyone is busy with meeting deadlines," Youngbin reported. "Taeyang, Chanhee and Youngkyun are at least still going for their English class every week. Lots of people who've taken the class said there's a huge gap between the assignments and the final exam, which sounds pretty worrying."</p>
<p>"It does. Once we've cleared some deadlines, let's get the study group going again. Besides," Inseong rested his hand on Youngbin's shoulder, "I've missed you guys."</p>
<p>Youngbin missed him too. He could tell Inseong that, now that they had become a lot closer to each other.</p>
<p>But before he did, Inseong turned back to Nyangie, scratching behind her ears as he said, "Nyangie-ya, if only we can sleep all day like you..."</p>
<p>With Nyangie, Inseong started speaking in cat again. To his random combination of 'nya' and 'meow', Inseong's cat companion replied with a couple of soft chirps. She seemed used to his ways, just like Youngbin having gotten used to Inseong. Youngbin remained quiet as he watched them, trying to enter the little world of cat and cat-like human, until someone called out, "Inseong-ah!"</p>
<p>"Oh, hyung!" Inseong reverted back to human language and rose from the bench to greet his friend.</p>
<p>Youngbin didn't know the older guy, but a piece of his clothing caught Youngbin's eye--a grey sweater emblazoned with their university's name in sky blue. Inseong's friend reminded Youngbin of the male customer in the school sweater that Youngbin had seen at Kingdom. Someone on campus wearing the sweater that anyone could buy from their campus goods store was far from unusual, but if they wore it in a club, they would stand out.</p>
<p>As Youngbin recalled what he had seen and heard while working behind the bar, he gave Nyangie long strokes down the fur of her back. She wriggled her butt, shaking his hand off before leaping onto the ground. After stretching the entire length of her body, she righted herself to pad away to another spot. Youngbin let her go, thinking that she had enough of entertaining humans.</p>
<p>She left right when Inseong finished his quick chat with his friend and she not so subtly rubbed against the bottom of his jeans as she passed him.</p>
<p>"Nya-nya!" Inseong said, waving his hand at Nyangie though she couldn't see him.</p>
<p>Sitting back down beside Youngbin, he explained, "That means 'bye-bye'."</p>
<p>"I guessed that," Youngbin replied. "Say, have I told you about the guy in the school sweater I saw at your uncle's club? The same sweater your friend is wearing."</p>
<p>"No, you haven't. Did he hit on lots of guys?"</p>
<p>"Yeah, he did! He talked to three different guys...I think that's a lot. Cause of his sweater, I can't help but notice whatever he was doing."</p>
<p>"Ah, yes...that's definitely my friend. The hyung that just left."</p>
<p>"Him!?"</p>
<p>"Yeah, him." Inseong jerked his chin in the direction that his friend had headed off too. "He goes to Kingdom to let off steam and try out different guys. He has even tried me out before."</p>
<p>"By 'try out', do you mean..."</p>
<p>" 'Try out' as in 'sleep together'," Inseong said. "Does knowing that I sleep with guys make you uncomfortable?"</p>
<p>Inseong's tone was level, but his gaze was intense as he scrutinized Youngbin's reaction. He wouldn't miss the slightest hint of Youngbin hiding his discomfort or censoring any close-minded thoughts.</p>
<p>Youngbin chose to speak honestly. "I'm not uncomfortable. Just a little...shocked that we're talking about this in broad daylight. And I didn't guess that you had that kind of relationship with that hyung from the casual way you talked to him."</p>
<p>"Ah," Inseong laughed, "is that so! We're not in any kind of relationship. I'm just one of the people he lets off steam with after working on his dissertation."</p>
<p>"I see. I think that still counts as one kind of relationship."</p>
<p>Inseong shrugged and smiled at Youngbin, leaning back against the bench as he finished what's left of his iced coffee. Youngbin did the same. He was relieved that Inseong was convinced that he meant what he said and that they could continue to be comfortable with each other.</p>
<p>The TMI sharing appeared to be over, but then Inseong said,"I don't just like guys, I like girls, too. In fact, I'm meeting a girl this Friday."</p>
<p>He just had to rear-end Youngbin with another piece of information. Youngbin sucked in the mix of melted ice and coffee at the bottom of his cup through his straw, creating a sound which mimicked his assumption that he was close to figuring Inseong out being drained away.</p>
<p>When he released his straw, he could only say, "What girl?"</p>
<p>"I haven't met her yet. Hasn't Jaeyoon told you? We're going out on a double date."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>At a traffic light, Youngbin braked his delivery scooter to watch a group of buskers dancing among the crowd. The catchy 'ey, ey-o ey-o' from BTS' "Fire" blasted through their speakers, pulling spectators into singing and dancing to the iconic song. Youngbin knew its choreography from start to finish and would have joined in if he didn't have boxes of chicken to deliver.</p><p>The light turned green and he started up his scooter. Except for him and others on shifts for their part-time jobs, Friday night was playtime for the average young adult in Seoul. Long queues snaked out of restaurants along the road as people, mostly couples or large groups of friends, waited for their turn. Even if they give up the long wait and move to a place with a plainer ambience like Youngbin's workplace, they might not find any empty tables. Before Youngbin started his delivery run, the chicken restaurant was nearly full house.</p><p>The dinner crowd reminded Youngbin of Inseong's double date with Jaeyoon. Those two were the easygoing type and there was a high chance that they had not made a reservation at their chosen restaurant. It would be ideal if whoever they were with were equally easygoing so the evening wouldn't get off to a bad start. They, along with their dates, could even be in the queues that he had just ridden past.</p><p>Since moving to the big city, Youngbin had never run into anyone he knew during his part-time work. That might change if he could start bartending at Kingdom. Inseong promised that he'd come by often to support Youngbin and order lots of drinks, especially the more complicated ones for Youngbin to practise making them so he won't mess up in front of less forgiving customers. Youngbin imagined that Inseong would stick around to talk to regulars he knew, then maybe hit on them or let them hit on him.</p><p>If that happened, Youngbin would have to look away. He had to before he witnessed Inseong going off to be cute and rather clingy at someone else's place. It didn't feel right for Inseong to do that outside of Youngbin's home after spending months getting Youngbin used to him.</p><p>Going to one address after another and unloading the boxes of chicken at the back of his scooter, Youngbin pushed all thoughts about Inseong aside to create a list for the parts of the bartending job that he looked forward to. First was the better pay, then the free time that he'd regain. He could use it to create lots of dance covers with the rest of the dance crew that he was in. There may even be time left for him to help out with editing and uploading the covers online for starting a Youtube channel.</p><p>He continued adding to his wishlist for non-work-related plans throughout finishing his deliveries, returning the scooter to the restaurant and heading home. Still, thoughts of Inseong and parts of Inseong's life that he didn't know lingered at the back of his mind, and he wondered how to deal with them as he punched in the keycode of his apartment.</p><p>When he opened the door, there Inseong was, as if Youngbin had summoned him with his thoughts.</p><p>"You're here," Youngbin said. "Has your date ended?"</p><p>"Yup." Inseong smiled  and patted the empty space beside him on the couch, inviting Youngbin to go over to him.</p><p>As Youngbin placed his bag on the coffee table and sat next to Inseong, he hoped that it wasn't obvious to Inseong that Youngbin had been thinking about him all night.</p><p>"How was it?" Youngbin asked. "I saw the crowd in town and thought you'd have to waste half the night queueing."</p><p>"We would, if we had gone to town. Luckily, Jaeyoon's Crossfit noona cooked for us at her place."</p><p>"Who?" Youngbin knew that Jaeyoon did Crossfit, but this was the first time he had heard of a 'Crossfit noona'.</p><p>"The older girl from Jaeyoonie's Crossfit gym that Jaeyoonie's been crushing on," Inseong explained. "Her friend doesn't do Crossfit but is just as impressive. We've left early to give both our friends some privacy."</p><p>Opening the gallery on his phone, he showed Youngbin the pictures he had taken at the dinner party. One was of the spread of bolognese spaghetti and chicken wings that Jaeyoon's crush had made. To return the favour, Jaeyoon had flexed his arm muscles to uncork a bottle of champagne. After pouring out the bottle's contents, Inseong and Crossfit Noona's friend clinked their champagne flutes together and posed for a shot.</p><p>As with the hyung who talked to Inseong at the Communications school, Youngbin thought he had seen the girl drinking champagne with Inseong before. He tapped on the screen of Inseong's phone to zoom in on her face and tried to jog his memory.</p><p>"Is she...famous in any way?" Youngbin thought out loud.</p><p>"I'm glad you asked." With his fingers, Inseong covered up the bottom half of the girl's long, brown hair. "Does doing this make her more familiar to you?"</p><p>"Oh! She really looks like--"</p><p>"No, no, that is her. We used to see her face around town when her group's song was played everywhere. Remember this? <em>'I'm good, I'm hot, I'm fresh, I'm fly!'</em>" Inseong sang in English and continued, "You'll know it's really her and not a lookalike if you saw her in person. For real!"</p><p>Youngbin would not have mistaken her for anyone else if she still had her hair in her iconic blonde bob. Back when she was a member of a top girl group, photos of her drinking with a guy would have made waves in tabloids. But now, Inseong was not in danger of being harassed by her fans as she had left both her group and the entertainment industry. </p><p>After studying her face for long enough, Youngbin turned to Inseong and said, "Wow. While I've been delivering chicken, you've been hanging out with a celebrity."</p><p>"She's not that anymore," Inseong reminded him. "We're both regular people who can hang out with anyone we want."</p><p>As Inseong pocketed his phone, Youngbin couldn't resist asking, "Are you going to see her again? Or do you prefer going out with guys?"</p><p>Before Youngbin could add that Inseong was free to ignore his last question, Inseong gave his answer. "Yeah, she's really nice and pretty, but I prefer guys. Specifically, I prefer for whoever's interested to make the first move and guys are more likely to do that."</p><p>"Hmm...then how do you like guys who are interested to make a move on you?"</p><p>"Like this." Resting his hand on Youngbin's arm, Inseong lowered his voice slightly to say, "Play with me tonight."</p><p>"Oh, 'play', that sure is...a suggestive word..."</p><p>"It is," Inseong said, laughing and taking his hand off Youngbin.</p><p>Instantly, Youngbin wanted Inseong's hand back on his skin. He took a deep breath, curled his hand around Inseong's fingers and told Inseong, "Play with me tonight."</p><p>"Hey," Inseong scooted closer to Youngbin, "I know I said 'play', but I don't like playing around like this."</p><p>"I'm not."</p><p>To convince Inseong that he was being serious, Youngbin drew his thumb over the bumps of Inseong's knuckles.</p><p>"Seriously..." Without pulling his hand away, Inseong shifted on the couch to fully face Youngbin and say, "Don't play around with me."</p><p>"I'm not," Youngbin repeated. "I like you."</p><p>It felt good to say the words out loud and release the feelings that had been coming to a boil inside him. It felt even better when Inseong leaned over to press their lips together.</p><p>Pulling away, Inseong asked, "And how about that? Do you like that?"</p><p>Youngbin answered with his lips. He returned Inseong's kiss with a little more force, telling Inseong without words that he was--definitely, really, one hundred percent--not playing around. He wanted to kiss Inseong like the type of guy that Inseong liked--a guy who knew how to take charge.</p><p>Against Youngbin's mouth, Inseong smiled as he kissed Youngbin back. He exhaled hard at Youngbin placing his hand at the back of Inseong's neck, massaging lightly and keeping Inseong close. Into the slight opening between Inseong's lips, Youngbin slipped his tongue in to touch it against the tip of Inseong's tongue. He was a little self-conscious about being too aggressive, demanding Inseong to open up for him, but that went away with Inseong letting him thrust his tongue inside deeper and grabbing the side of Youngbin's thigh.</p><p>"Can we..." Moving a hairbreadth apart from Youngbin's mouth and breathing heavily, Inseong asked, "Can we take this to your room?"</p><p>Youngbin took his hand to lead him there, only letting go to lock the door. The small distance between the couch and Youngbin's room marked a point of no return that they could never go back to. All it took to cross that point was a kiss and a confession and after that, it was unknown territory that Youngbin had never explored with anyone else before.</p><p>The difficulty of continuing hit him when he joined Inseong on his bed. He wanted to kiss Inseong again, but bit his lower lip and held back, thinking that he should warn Inseong of his inexperience before it got in the way.</p><p>He admitted, "I can only take the lead up until here. I've never...never done more than kissing. "</p><p>"It's okay to just kiss," Inseong replied, reaching up to brush Youngbin's hair out of his eyes. "Or do you want to do more?"</p><p>"I do."</p><p>As Inseong traced his fingers down Youngbin's cheek, Youngbin gently held his wrist and said, "I want more...I want you to show me what you like."</p><p>"Okay. Don't blame me for what happens next."</p><p>With his palm on Youngbin's chest, Inseong pushed Youngbin onto the bed to lie on top of him. He put his mouth to Youngbin's neck, kissing along Youngbin's throat and scratching his nails down the sides of Youngbin's chest. Youngbin was ticklish there and even through the cotton of his shirt, Inseong's tickling was too much for him to handle. He gasped and squirmed in Inseong's hold, pushing his throat against Inseong's wet lips.</p><p>"Mmm," Inseong hummed, getting another moan out of Youngbin. "I like that."</p><p>Youngbin didn't have to ask if teasing him turned Inseong on. The rocking of Inseong's hips against him said it all, encouraging Youngbin to respond in kind. Youngbin did so, clutching onto Inseong's shoulders and chasing the friction that his body craved.</p><p>Rubbing off on each other through their pants was starting to chafe, but just as Youngbin was thinking to hell with that, Inseong stopped to leave the room and left Youngbin alone to cool down. He didn't take long to return with a bottle of Youngbin's lotion that Youngbin usually kept in the shared bathroom. </p><p>Lying on his side, he rested his hand on Youngbin's waist to turn Youngbin towards him.</p><p>"Do you really like me enough to want me to be your first?" He asked.</p><p>Youngbin nodded, giving Inseong permission to slip his hand lower. His heart hammered in his chest as Inseong stroked the front of his pants before unfastening them and tugged them down along with his boxer-briefs. He wasn't embarrassed about his body, but still wished that he had done some Crossfit to prepare for lying in bed with someone who had seen and touched many other guys' bodies.</p><p>From Inseong's touches on his bared skin, ruffling the hair on his crotch and caressing the entire length of his cock, Youngbin knew that he didn't have to worry much about letting Inseong down with what was underneath his clothes.</p><p>"Nice. Very nice length and thickness," Inseong commented.</p><p>When Youngbin got even harder under his touch, he added, "I really like that too."</p><p>"Ah, you're teasing me again..." Youngbin complained.</p><p>To prove that he wasn't, Inseong kissed Youngbin on the lips and slid his hand up to cup Youngbin's balls. His palm was smooth and his touch was confident yet gentle, and Youngbin wanted Inseong to touch him everywhere. He spread his legs wider, as far as his pants allowed him, allowing Inseong to bring his fingers further behind and explore more of him.</p><p>"I'm going to make you come harder than you've ever had with your own hand," Inseong promised.</p><p>He squirted some of Youngbin's lotion on his hand before stroking Youngbin's cock with a steady rhythm. Youngbin nearly lost his mind from the smooth glide of Inseong's strokes and the visual of the fluid leaking out of his tip staining Inseong's fingers. He had never noticed how long and elegant those fingers were, like the fingers of a pianist, until Inseong had got them filthy from spreading pre-come all over his length and rubbing them over areas that Youngbin tended to neglect when touching himself with his own hand.</p><p>"I want to--ah!" Whatever Youngbin wanted to say trailed off into a moan as the pads of Inseong's fingers met the tip of his cock.</p><p>He grabbed onto the curve of Inseong's shoulder and made Inseong pause so he could speak. "I want to try doing that to you."</p><p>"Good," Inseong replied. "I'm about to burst here."</p><p>Youngbin clenched his fist to endure waiting for Inseong to bare himself. When Inseong had pushed his jeans and underwear down to mid-thigh, Youngbin rushed to touch him. He drew a line with his fingers from the underside of Inseong's arm and up Inseong's smooth inner thigh to where he bumped his wrist against Inseong's bare cock.</p><p>"Wait, wait," Inseong prised Youngbin's hand off him and reached for the bottle of lotion again, "This first."</p><p>"Sorry..."</p><p>In his eagerness, Youngbin had forgotten an important step to make Inseong feel good. But Inseong just brushed it off to squeeze lotion onto Youngbin's palm with a loud squelch and offer Youngbin extra advice.</p><p>"Don't think too much. Just touch me like how you touch yourself," Inseong said.</p><p>Youngbin wasn't content with that. What he wanted to do was to make up for his earlier mistake. He took great care in touching Inseong, adjusting the tightness of his grip to get Inseong thrusting into his hand. The turns of his wrists were clumsy, yet Inseong remained hard against his fingers.</p><p>Inseong couldn't stop saying 'Youngbin' and 'more' over and over again, getting Youngbin bold enough to press their bodies closer. He let Inseong guide him in wrapping his hand around both their cocks. Closely following Inseong's instructions and with Inseong's hand over his, he brought his hand up and down to stroke both of them at the same time.</p><p>He came first, panting and writhing against the sheets. His climax was like what Inseong had promised: nothing like what he could bring about with his own hand. His release sent waves of bliss thrumming through his veins and before he could recover to think of a clever way to get Inseong off, Inseong beat him to it.</p><p>He was speechless as Inseong brought his fingers, wet with come and lotion, to his lips. Inseong kissed them once, then stuffed them into his mouth to suck them clean. While his mouth was full, he kept his hand busy with stroking himself until he came.</p><p>Youngbin's world narrowed down to the sharpness of Inseong's teeth resting above his finger and the texture of Inseong's tongue beneath. Inseong licked between Youngbin's fingers and smirked around them, letting Youngbin know that he was just getting started.</p>
<hr/><p>In the darkness, they lied together with Inseong using Youngbin's arm as a pillow. The air was cool in Youngbin's room and Youngbin didn't want to stop touching Inseong if he didn't have to.</p><p>Inseong curled up against Youngbin and said, "I like you too."</p><p>"I just want you to know that," he continued. "I don't sleep with anyone I don't like."</p><p>Holding Inseong close, Youngbin stroked the fine hairs below the sleeve of Inseong's shirt. He was curious to know more about how Inseong saw him in light of their newfound closeness, curious enough to ask a question that might rupture the peaceful moment.</p><p>"Do you like all the guys that you sleep with?"</p><p>"Yeah." With his finger, Inseong traced little circles on Youngbin's chest. "I do, at least at first."</p><p>"Are we going out? Or are we just...trying each other out?"</p><p>Inseong laughed. "There's no hard line between doing one or the other. What you want to do with me is up to you."</p><p>Youngbin went quiet and just listened to the rhythm of Inseong's breathing. Being given the freedom to decide what they would or wouldn't do meant that Inseong didn't expect much from him. That seemed wrong to him, when out there in the world, there were many others that Inseong could expect a lot from.</p>
<hr/><p>An apology to his housemates was in order. Youngbin shouldn't change a rule that he had set down in the first place, but it was necessary for his and Inseong's future together.</p><p>There was no need for the others to set aside time for an apartment meeting. From their latest schedules that he had saved on the cloud, he found that they'd be around for breakfast the next morning. Youngbin thought that Jaeyoon might still be at his crush's place, but he came back after all, giving Youngbin a good sign for carrying out what he had planned.</p><p>Once he had gathered everyone to take their seats at the dining table, he began with, "Guys, listen up. I have something important to say."</p><p>"What is it? Are we allowed to use the washing machine more than twice a week?" Chanhee guessed.</p><p>"Not until we can get our landlord's agreement to pay for either an upgraded machine or the bill for getting the one we have repaired in case it breaks down again," Youngbin reminded him of what they had discussed during their last meeting. "Anyway, here's what I have to say. I'd like to request...getting rid of our rules for visitors who stay overnight."</p><p>"This is really about Inseong-hyung, isn't it?"</p><p>What Jaeyoon said nearly caused Youngbin to fall off his chair. Even more surprising was the other three's lack of surprise at Jaeyoon linking Inseong to Youngbin's change of heart.</p><p>"Oh, has it happened?" Taeyang said. "Have you finally returned Inseong-hyung's feelings?"</p><p>"How did you...How did you guys know about..."</p><p>Jaeyoon wouldn't let Youngbin finish speaking as he continued, "Inseong texted me earlier, saying that last night went well. So I guess after that, you'd want to be less strict on him to have him hang out here as much as possible."</p><p>"Yeah, that's about it..."</p><p>Youngbin was confused as to how Jaeyoon took the words that he had been struggling to string together right out of his mouth. Still, it saved him the trouble of getting to the point and he could move on to his apology. "Guys, I'm really sorry for wanting to change a rule that I came up with. I know it isn't fair. As always, we can agree on replacing any of our rules for living here with solutions for problems that we might face."</p><p>"Don't feel bad," Jaeyoon said and gave Youngbin's arm a comforting squeeze. "We all like Inseong-hyung and we're happy for you. Right, guys?"</p><p>A chorus of "yeah" went around the table.</p><p>"In fact," Chanhee added, "we've been feeling bad for Inseong-hyung cause you're the only one who has no idea how he feels about you."</p><p>"Wait, what?"</p><p>Before the others could explain how they knew, their conversation was interrupted by the sound of a door being opened. Inseong was awake and like every other morning, he headed straight for their fridge.</p><p>"Good morning, everyone!" He said, opening the fridge to pick up a carton of orange juice with his and Jaeyoon's name written on it in black marker ink. "I heard someone say my name. Were you guys talking about me?"</p><p>"Hyung, you're like Anne Boleyn!" Youngkyun said. "A man's love for you changed the law of the land!"</p><p>"Say what now?" </p><p>Turning around, Youngbin was hit with the sight of Inseong's long legs extending from a pair of dark green boxers. A pair of dark green boxers that Inseong had taken from his wardrobe. Youngbin felt his heart fluttering like it never did in all those times when Inseong borrowed his clothes before last night. A nudge on his arm told him to stop his ogling and to regain his dignity, he rose from his chair to go over to Inseong.</p><p>"I've got the others to agree that you can bring your own stuff here whenever you want to sleep over. And keep the food and drinks that you like here," Youngbin said, plucking the orange juice out of Inseong's hand to put it back inside the fridge. "And drink from the juice boxes with my name on them."</p><p>Inseong let his eyes go wide and his mouth fall open. "You don't have to--"</p><p>"I have to," Youngbin insisted. "I know it's not hard for you to be comfortable around most guys, girls, cats, or even around a former celebrity, but I want you to feel most comfortable here. I want to do something to mark our first day as a couple."</p><p>"Really?" Inseong closed the door of the fridge and took Youngbin's hand like there was no one else around.</p><p>"Yeah. This is our first day," Youngbin declared.</p><p>His urge to kiss Inseong stupid was too strong to bear. He dragged Inseong by the hand back into his room, not caring that the others would tease him afterward. The last thing he heard from them was someone asking which former celebrity Inseong knew and Jaeyoon promising to share his side of the story.</p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Youngbin's scores for the English test was lower than what Jaeyoon and Inseong got, but he met the grade for getting the bartending job. He went back to Kingdom during its off-peak hours to show Inseong's uncle his score report and to mix a handful of drinks that he had practiced making while waiting for his test results. Once Youngbin's new boss confirmed that Youngbin's drinks were up to scratch, he wanted Youngbin to jump right into the action to help out at the club's big annual Halloween event. </p><p>'Animal Kingdom' would be the theme for the night. Inseong would be there too and he was more than happy to spend an afternoon helping Youngbin prepare an outfit that fit the theme. In Youngbin's room, he took the chance to show off what he planned to wear at the event.</p><p>The finishing touch to the get-up that Inseong had picked out was a black necktie. After Youngbin looped it around his neck and tied a simple knot in front of his mirror, he tried not to stare too much at Inseong in the mirror's reflection. It was hard not to as Inseong sat cross-legged on his bed in just a flimsy pair of black boxer-briefs with a thin black choker around his neck, from which hung a little golden bell. Black cat ears on his head and a belt attached to a fluffy black tail strapped around his waist confirmed Youngbin's suspicion that Inseong would be the animal that he was most like for Halloween.</p><p>Done with dressing up, Youngbin went over to admire Inseong.</p><p>Just as he reached out to stroke Inseong's bare shoulder, Inseong caught his wrist gently and said, "Hold on. I'm not finished with you yet."</p><p>Inseong had made him change into the white dress shirt, black pants and black double-breasted vest that had been his uniform from back when he worked as a server for a high-end Italian restaurant. Youngbin had kept it in his wardrobe as he liked the vest and the material of the pants. When Inseong uncovered the entire set, he assumed that customers had given him lots of tips for looking 'more delicious than the food' in uniform.</p><p>"You can't keep these hidden if you want to keep the orders coming," Inseong said, rolling up one of Youngbin's long sleeves and then doing the same for the other sleeve. "And I want the world to know how attractive my boyfriend is."</p><p>Youngbin shivered at hearing the word 'boyfriend' and feeling Inseong kiss a prominent vein on his bare arm. He wasn't totally used to being Inseong's boyfriend though Inseong assured him that all he needed to do was go with the flow. He did just that, looking down at the back of Inseong's cat ears and scratching there to get a little "nya" out of Inseong.</p><p>"You're so cute," Youngbin said. "I don't know how I can handle you being an adorable kitty for one entire night."</p><p>"'Course you can, nya. I've been an adorable kitty the whole time."</p><p>"Anyway, where'd you get this stuff?" Youngbin asked, reaching over to feel the synthetic fur of Inseong's black tail between his fingertips. </p><p>"From costumes put together for performances with the drama club," Inseong replied. "I'll lend you another pair of animal ears to complete your 'animal butler look'." </p><p>Inseong stroked his cheek up and down Youngbin's arm, encouraging Youngbin to pet him more. As he lifted his head, Youngbin tickled the underside of his chin and watched him shut his eyes and stretch his lips into a satisfied grin.</p><p>Like what Inseong had wanted, Youngbin couldn't get enough of his cuteness. All along, what kept Inseong coming back was Youngbin, not the convenient location of the apartment or anything else. The others had caught on to Inseong's feelings before Youngbin did, but Inseong didn't mind as he liked watching Youngbin take care of them. Instead of roaming about town and flitting from one social group to another, he chose to stay near Youngbin like a predator turned domestic animal hoping to be fed. </p><p>Since Youngbin learned that Inseong liked him first, he made up his mind to do his best to take care of Inseong.</p><p>He kissed Inseong deep and slow, curling his hand around Inseong's neck to trace where the edge of Inseong's choker met Inseong's skin, until Inseong rested both hands on his shoulders and pulled away.</p><p>"Go stand over there." Inseong cocked his head towards the door and added, "I want to try something."</p><p>Youngbin nodded and stood by his door though he was reluctant to take his hands off Inseong. For every idea that Inseong wanted to explore with Youngbin, he'd rather give Youngbin a little preview rather than outright say what he had in mind. It was then up to Youngbin whether they should stop or continue.</p><p>Youngbin had yet to tell Inseong to stop. His excitement only grew as Inseong lifted himself off the bed to get on all fours and crawl towards him. Inseong rubbed against his clothed leg once, then passed him to circle around the room and give Youngbin a view of the fluffy tail that trailed behind him. He kept stopping and starting, purposely jingling the bell on his choker, and everytime he stopped, Youngbin stared at the tail framed between his thighs.</p><p>When Inseong returned to Youngbin, he sat on his haunches and held onto the back of Youngbin's knees as he asked, "How was that? I know I'm cute, but do I make a sexy cat?"</p><p>"You're the prettiest and sexiest cat," Youngbin said. "Do your knees hurt?"</p><p>"Nope. I can stay down here all day," Inseong claimed and rubbed his face over the fly of Youngbin's pants.</p><p>Youngbin gulped. What was coming next was easy to guess, but no less exciting to him.</p><p>"Meow, I'm thirsty and I need a drink," Inseong purred, as if Youngbin needed any more hints.</p><p>With his teeth, Inseong pulled down the zipper of Youngbin's pants. He didn't take long to take Youngbin's cock into his mouth, sucking and licking Youngbin to get him hard. He moved his head from side to side as Youngbin got bigger, letting Youngbin see the tip of Youngbin's cock poking against the inside of his cheek.</p><p>Inseong soon got his drink as Youngbin started leaking drops of pre-come on his tongue. He moaned around Youngbin, showing Youngbin that he was getting pleasure even if Youngbin couldn't touch him much like this. All Youngbin could do was place his hand on the back of Inseong's head and twist his fingers around Inseong's hair, pulling just hard enough for Inseong to be aware of his grip.</p><p>The first time Inseong sucked him, Inseong had to teach him what to do with his hands. When he touched Inseong on his own, daring to be a little rough, Inseong gave a drawn out moan that reverberated with his pride in Youngbin.</p><p>Youngbin thought Inseong wanted him to come in his mouth, but Inseong seemed to change his mind. As Inseong stopped moving, Youngbin unwound his fingers from Inseong's hair to let Inseong pull off him.</p><p>Getting to his feet, Inseong rubbed his kneecaps and groaned, "Looks like I <em>can't</em> stay down there all day."</p><p>Beneath his underwear, his hard-on stretched out the material. The wetness that Inseong had leaked wasn't obvious through the dark material until Youngbin hugged him from behind and cupped the front of Inseong's underwear.</p><p>As Inseong bucked against his hand, then rock back against his exposed erection, Youngbin kissed Inseong's nape and said, "I want you. Will you get on the bed?"</p><p>"Oh yes, yes."</p><p>Once Youngbin released him, Inseong peeled off his underwear and scrambled onto the bed, getting on his hands and knees again. Youngbin sneaked glances at the lines of Inseong's big body as he fetched the lubricant and condoms from his bed stand drawer, trying not to linger and keep Inseong waiting.</p><p>Kneeling behind Inseong, Youngbin tugged at Inseong's tail once and asked, "Do you want to take this off? It might get dirty."</p><p>"Mmm...it'd be more fun to leave it on," Inseong replied. "I can always get it cleaned later. I'll bring what you have on to the cleaners too."</p><p>Youngbin looked down at himself and realised that the refined aura his formal clothes had given him was spoiled by the jut of his hard, dripping erection. "You want me to put all these on so you could get them dirty, didn't you?"</p><p>"Yeah," Inseong admitted. "If you want to punish me for being a bad kitty, go ahead..."</p><p>"Oh no, I won't." Youngbin swept his hand down Inseong's broad back. "I don't want you to get scared and go somewhere else."</p><p>Youngbin pressed a kiss on the small of Inseong's back and after applying lube to his fingers, he circled the tip of his finger over Inseong's hole. He had to hold the fake tail away to see what he was doing. Though it was a little tricky to stretch Inseong open with one hand, slipping two fingers in, then out to squirt more lube onto them and put them back in again, Youngbin managed to get Inseong ready for him.</p><p>Inseong tried to stay in character at first with exaggerated mewls at Youngbin pushing his fingers in and out of him, but ended up letting out a mix of grunts and moans that was more animalistic. As Youngbin pushed his cock into Inseong, the sounds that spilled out of Inseong continued, never stopping and were only partially drowned out with the slapping of their bodies.</p><p>Youngbin relished the tightness and heat inside Inseong, but he wanted something more...or rather, something else.</p><p>He stopped and pulled out to get Inseong's attention. He felt a stab of guilt as Inseong turned his head and said in a hoarse voice, "Wh-What? Why?"</p><p>"Can we do it face to face? I really want to watch you."</p><p>Inseong nodded and shifted to lie on his back. To avoid lying on his tail, he finally unsnapped it from around his waist. But he wasn't about to leave aside his cat ears that had slipped off his head as he grabbed the headband and fixed it back on. </p><p>Youngbin took in the flush spreading over Inseong's pale chest, then Inseong's hard nipples and the curve of Inseong's cock. He gave Inseong's cock an apologetic squeeze and said, "I know I can't go as deep like this..."</p><p>"It's fine." Inseong wound his long legs around Youngbin's waist, urging him to continue. "It's fine, I just want you inside me."</p><p>He gasped at Youngbin entering him again and stretching his hole open. With Inseong's arms around his neck, Youngbin shifted his hips to find the best angle for his thrusts to make Inseong cry out louder. He was so intent on Inseong's cries that his climax caught him off-guard and he couldn't do a thing to stop himself from trembling and coming inside Inseong.</p><p>Inseong seemed pleased that Youngbin came first. He smiled up at Youngbin, tightening hard around Youngbin to prolong the high of Youngbin's climax.</p><p>After Inseong lifted his hands from Youngbin's shoulders and let his arms fall onto the bed, Youngbin pulled out and stared at Inseong's erection. He wanted to give Inseong relief, but not just yet. On a whim, he tweaked one of Inseong's hard nipples and when Inseong squealed, he did the same to Inseong's other nipple.</p><p>He remembered a piece of trivia about cats having eight nipples. While his kitty--that's what Inseong had become for him--only had two, his nipples were just as sensitive and fun to play with.</p><p>Youngbin picked up the discarded cat tail to brush its furry end over Inseong's collarbones. Inseong widened his eyes and batted at the tail once, making Youngbin think that he wanted Youngbin to stop. Then Youngbin caught his smirk and realised that he was just playing as a cat again.</p><p>Youngbin continued to draw the tail over Inseong's nipples, chest and stomach, and delighted in Inseong's complete surrender to him. Inseong scrunched up the bedsheets with both his hands, resisting the temptation to shy away from being tickled. He held onto the sheets tighter as Youngbin got bolder and brushed the tail against Inseong's cock, again and again, to tickle the whole of it from different angles.</p><p>Drops of Inseong's pre-come got stuck on the fur and Youngbin tossed it aside to put his mouth on Inseong's cock. He had done this once for Inseong and could only take half of Inseong into his mouth, but with Inseong hard for quite a while, he thought that he could make Inseong come without sucking until his jaw ached. Sure enough, Inseong soon spilled into his mouth and he met the next challenge of swallowing down Inseong's come as best as he could.</p><p>"Are you..." Inseong started to say, then heard how hoarse his voice had gotten and leaned back against Youngbin's pillow as he cleared his throat a few times.</p><p>He tried speaking again, "Are you okay? Ugh, why do I sound like this..."</p><p>"I'll get you some water."</p><p>Youngbin got up to throw away his used condom and change out of his creased pants into his shorts. It was rather silly for him to walk around in the kitchen with his top half still in formal clothes that clashed with his casual bottoms, but that didn't matter since the others weren't home yet.</p><p>After pouring and drinking a glass of water for himself, he took another mug from the drying rack for Inseong. From the entrance, he heard the beeps of someone punching in the keycode followed by the ringing sound that played whenever the door was unlocked.</p><p>"Oh, hey," he greeted Taeyang. "I thought you'd be back in the evening."</p><p>"Hyung, it's already 7 p.m.," Taeyang pointed out.</p><p>He looked Youngbin up and down and asked, "Why are you dressed like that?"</p><p>"Just trying on some old clothes!"</p><p>Avoiding Taeyang's confused look, Youngbin fled with the water for Inseong in his hand. </p><p>Inseong took a sip from the filled mug and said, "We're lucky that Taeyangie didn't come home when I was screaming the house down."</p><p>"No doubt," Youngbin replied, putting his arm around Inseong.</p><p>To lay his head on Youngbin's shoulder, Inseong took off his cat ears. They'd have to get up to clean the sweat and leftover come on them under the shower, but before that, Youngbin decided to share an idea he had been turning over in his head--another idea he had to prove how serious he was about Inseong.</p><p>"Inseong-ah," Youngbin said. "What do you think about actually living here?"</p><p>"Here? You mean, in your room?" Inseong asked. "It'd get really cramped if I put more of my stuff here. I'll just stick to bringing things over for a few days at a time."</p><p>"No, I mean, you can put your things in Jaeyoonie's room," Youngbin explained. "It'll be empty while he's away on exchange in America. You can sleep there, if you want, or you can sleep here, with me, where we can--"</p><p>Inseong sat up straight to cut him off with a kiss.</p><p>"I'll do it," he said. "I'll move in. I'd have to talk to my parents first about it, but I don't think they'd mind since I've been telling them lots about this place."</p><p>"Have you?"</p><p>Youngbin didn't have to ask if Inseong had told his parents about him as Inseong continued, "Maybe you can join us for dinner. Then my mom will believe what I said about having someone responsible around to stop me from lying down after a meal."</p><p>"I'll never let you do that," Youngbin promised.</p><p>With another kiss and a squeeze around Inseong's hand, he sealed the deal.</p>
<hr/><p>It would be scary not only for Youngbin, but also for Inseong himself if he actually went for the Halloween event wearing just his underwear and cat accessories. He put on a tight-fitting black shirt and slim jeans on the night of the event, looking delectable even in plain style clothes.</p><p>Once Youngbin had dressed in his old server uniform, Inseong took out a pair of white bunny ears from his bag and set them on his head.</p><p>"There you go!" Inseong exclaimed and tugged at one of the ears. "You'll get random guys asking if you'd like a 'carrot' all night...and when they do that, I'd be nearby with my claws out."</p><p>Sliding his hands down to Inseong's waist, Youngbin had to make the cheesy pun as he said, "I'll only say yes to your 'carrot'."</p><p>"You'd better!"</p><p>In the living room, the three remaining members of the study group were reading English passages out loud to one another. Taeyang, Youngkyun and Chanhee couldn't relax with the oral examination for their English class taking place after the weekend, but they could afford to take a break to comment on and praise their hyungs' outfits. Both Inseong and Youngbin offered them their animal ears to play with and they took turns to wear them to see how they'd look as a kitty or a bunny.</p><p>When Inseong and Youngbin had to leave to reach Kingdom in time for the start of Youngbin's shift, Inseong plucked the cat ears off Youngkyun and said, "That's enough. I'd better take this away before you get mistaken for an actual cat."</p><p>"Don't push yourself and don't go to sleep out here without a blanket, okay?" Youngbin reminded his dongsaengs while he retrieved the rabbit ears from Chanhee and smoothed down Chanhee's hair.</p><p>After trading waves, Youngbin stepped out with Inseong into the night. Naturally, and without glancing at each other, they held hands on their way to the subway station. Leaving and going home with Inseong had become routine for Youngbin, and he didn't think he'd ever want to go back to when it wasn't.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This fic is a special gift for chilltaire. Your enthusiastic support has given me the inspiration, courage and patience that I need to finish a story that's much longer than what I usually write 💖</p><p>The title is from <a href="https://twitter.com/inseongface/status/1190598734171824128">one of Inseong's fancafe posts</a>.</p><p>The housemates in this AU are all the members who live in the big dorm. But unlike the members' actual living arrangement, Youngbin and Jaeyoon have their own rooms here.</p><p>'Kingdom' is a reference to the joint concert for FNC labelmates, not a reference to the MNet survival show.</p><p>TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication) is an official English proficiency test. The question from Chapter 1 is taken from <a href="https://www.examenglish.com/CEFR/C1.htm">this</a> online TOEIC practice test. </p><p>The former idol mentioned in Chapter 4 is Choa, who was from the girl group AOA. Inseong referenced their song "Like A Cat" in this same chapter 😼.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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